We arrived, parked the car, and strolled through the market
area. Before we reached The Powerhouse, we stopped to listen to music, and
brought some honey. After that we kept on walking where we brought some
sourdough bread rolls and a pkt of strawberries to have on a picnic lunch.
Then we arrived and as I stood on the jetty I looked up and
saw The Brisbane City Council Powerhouse building and I froze but I needed to
capture the moment. I was standing where Mary Mackillop and five other sisters
stood or walked on the 31st of December 1869 after traveling twenty-four
days from Adelaide.
After capturing the moment, I pulled out my map that I printed
off and tried to find where we took our next steps. However, I struggled to
find where we were on the map but luckily enough, we had our phones, so we used Google to guide us. I suppose you could say, times have changed and it’s so
much easier to be a pilgrim. It makes me wonder where Mary Mackillop got all
that courage and confidence without the assistance of Google maps.
Our feet were pointed in the right direction, and we set forth
with our hearts opened on a journey of faith and hope we asked for Saint Joseph
and Saint Mary Mackillop, to pray for us and we asked for God to bless us with strength,
guidance, and patience. However, patience and guidance weren’t a virtue for
some today it was quite the opposite. I am glad though that we took our beach trolley,
and our children are light enough to still pull along and I am also very thankful
for our phones.
We walked through the streets of New Farm and found our way to
the Story Bridge, where I once climbed. As we stood in front of the story bridge,
I could see in the distance the custom house and by this stage my feet were so
sore, but I pushed on and we went down a lift and walked along the New Farm
River Walk.
After stopping and starting
we finally arrived at The Customs House and standing out the front I was
overwhelmed, it was quite daunting, but I remembered reading this remark made
by Saint Mary Mackillop, 1867, “With God’s aid we shall get on and gain fresh strength
and energy for the work.” Believe me that is what we did, we turned around and
went back because after hearing “I am hungry,” “when is lunch.” I knew it was
time to head back and reflect on our walk, our time together as a family and what
I could do differently next time I walk the streets of Brisbane where Saint Mary
Mackillop walked?
May God Bless Always.
Written, Photos and created by Katie Robinson
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